Daango Pastry Lab

Bakery: Daango Pastry Lab 
Address: 202 Baldwin St, Toronto ON
Website: http://www.daango.com/
Style: Asian, North American 
Price: $$-$$$ 

Someone brought this cute, somewhat gimmicky pastry shop to my attention, informing me that it was founded by a pastry chef who was featured on Masterchef Canada. Now, I'm not sure if that gives the shop celebrity status, but there seems to be a certain degree of hype surrounding it: from the professionally designed packaging to the Instagram-friendly treats. Yes, Daango specializes in cakes, desserts and colourful macarons whose focus is their appearance. Think silly critters, uniquely shaped cake slices and unusual containers for creamy desserts. Nevertheless, adorable faces or not, the question is: is all that fanfare worth it?

 Always a fan of matcha, I went with two of their matcha-themed selections: the "Zen" matcha cream cake with red bean and black sesame ($6.50) and the black sesame and matcha "Terra" pudding ($5.50). With its clear plastic shell resembling a window planter, the cake crumb soil layer and little plant trying to make the most of the favourable growing conditions, the "Terra" was certainly the photogenic one, though "digging" into it, I found the flavour of the matcha not as pronounced as I like it. The "Zen", for that matter, suffered from the same problem; there was simply too little matcha for you to taste it, especially when combined with stronger, more overpowering flavours like black sesame or chocolate. The excessive use of intense food colouring also cheapened the products; often, you pay more for better food quality and I felt like the quality of the ingredients was lacking here.

Nonetheless, the pudding was the star of the two. The cake... I personally was not a fan of the salted crumble on top. There was enough complexity with the red bean, sesame and green tea, without adding that extra component; it didn't match at all. Usually, places add too much sugar, but I think the cake could have been sweeter. Or at least the red bean layer. Not sure. There was definitely something missing and it wasn't salt: it needed more flavour, or the flavours that were already there needed more emphasis. All in all: all sizzle, no bite.

Rating: **